Talk sense to me about second hand pushchairs for pfb

[polkadotdelight]

We've looked at travel systems and if we buy brand new would go for the Mamas and Papas Zoom system but we've been looking at ebay etc too. Obviously we wouldn't buy a second hand car seat but when we started finding good pram/pushchair alternatives on ebay I found myself becoming all pfb! I'm now not so sure about the idea of it being used by a strangers baby etc - can you steam clean them? Does the SIDS risk/guidelines apply to carry cot mattresses too? Am I being really silly here (I think I know the answer though!!!).

You can steam clean all the hard bits and upholstery bits and buy brand new replacement mattress-y bits for any that are still in production from major brands.

Although I totally understand the urge to lavish only the best on one's PFB, they just cost more and more as they get older and realistically I'd rather have money in hand for when they get bigger than blow the budget on baby 'stuff'. I think there are more 'we saw you coming' manufacturers and retailers preying on new parents than on any other single group in society.

We bought 2nd hand bugaboo for PFB. Very pleased we did as well. It saved us about £800!! Just about to dig it out of the shed and clean it up for dc2.

I bought nearly everything second hand. They grow out of things so quickly that it didn't make financial sense to buy new. My boy was only in his travel system for 6 months at the most. I loved that pram and cried when I sold it on.
I just washed everything really well

I was sucked in to the hype pf buying a gleaming new travel system with all the mod cons for my PFB. We stopped using it after 3 months (was so heavy and clunky!) and bought a cheapo folding pushchair.

I got a secondhand Mamas and Papas travel buggy from a seller on Gumtree with DC2. Saved a fortune. It was in good nick, and only the pram cover (the 'cosy' bit) needed a wash - there are bargains to be had out there! Youre very sensible.

A handheld steam cleaner will be your friend on this one. It's understandable to want all new things for a PFB but if you look you can get a great second hand pram for almost nothing.
Our first pram was a M&P travel system for £70 instead of over £500 new, it freed up money for other things.

Carrycot mattresses can be easily replaced if they look too used... Most often they don't get large amount of use really. If you do end up wanting to buy used view if you can, one person's version of "as new condition" definitely does not equate to another person's. People do buy and sell, there is a market and as such quite a bit of nearly new stuff. Equally there is a pretty good selection of good and reasonably priced new stuff - graco evo, joie chrome, mutsy evo and more. The zoom is too wide for me to include in my list but they are very popular and reasonably priced.

My PFB got a shiny new pushchair only because a DF lent me, tons of clothes, a bouncy chair, a sling, all sorts of other bits and a crib (which never did get a new mattress because it was a strange size).

Baby stuff is very expensive and some things don't get used much at all and you can't always predict which. DD1 loved the pushchair, other babies like slings, she screamed. She slept a lot in the crib. Breast monster DD2 co slept a lot of the time.

If someone finds a pushchair awkward in their house or car and sells in good knick take it. My mountain buggy suited us perfectly, but it's length, tendency to get punctures and weight might have driven someone else mad.

Had you had to store it folded in the house, rather than being able to leave it in the car, it would have gin straight on EBay because it was huge, sharp and fell over.

I bought new for PFB and loved the pram, bought second hand for DC2 and I wouldn't do it again.

I went to the ladies house, checked it all over, lovely clean condition, great working order etc 3 months later a wheel baring snapped and the suspension collapsed leaving the pram unusable and as it was an older model that had been updated there was no option to replace parts.

We ended up out of pocket despite buying to save money and are now happily using our shop bought pram 14 months on.

We got a second hand Quinny Buzz 3 for DS. DD is using it now, and it had done 2 children before we got it. It has had new front wheels and a couple of new mattresses for the carry cot. Saved us about £500. And i didn't feel bad shelving it when DS got too big. If we'd spent loads i might have tried to drag out using it for longer.

Thank you so much for all your replies. We have a hand held steam cleaner that my mum didn't want so I will keep an eye on ebay etc. SqutterNut thank you for your reply too - that was something I mentioned to DH too (no warranty). Lots to think about.

If you do buy a good quality new pushchair you will be able to sell it on again once you have finished with it. I did this with DS's Stokke Xplory. I shopped around and paid a very low price for it at a baby equipment show and then when I came to sell it on, it achieved more than I expected in an eBay auction. So the actual cost of ownership was very low and I had all the fun of having the pushchair I really wanted brand new.